Telling it Like it Is
by iwasa teenage dork
Summary: This is purely Lilly's POV on the happenings related to her in the first PD book, especially the events related to Boris. I'm trying to avoid the MM thing until I can figure out a good way to do it. I hope you enjoy!
1. Rambling in the Notebook

[A/N:  All right.  This is my first attempt at a fanfic, so bear with me, okie dokes?  I really wanted to try something different from the rest of the stuff everyone else has been writing, so I'm drifting away from the whole MM deal and I'm concentrating on one of the quirkiest characters in the series, that I find is often ignored: LILLY!  **All from Lilly's POV.**  How exciting… well, no one ever said that the PD fanfics had to be Mia-Michael, right?  Oh well.  I've decided that this is going to be pretty short from the very beginning, more than a one-shot but probably no less than five.  Unless a miraculous burst of inspiration strikes.  But basically, this is set in the first book, and it mainly revolves around how she and Boris get to "know each other" a little better.  Aherm.

And I know everyone's heard this before, but here goes…

Disclaimer: Meg Cabot owns all characters.

Enjoy!]

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**Tuesday, September 23** _at home_

Hmm.  Mia just gave me this notebook, with a rather emotional list of reasons of why I should accept and use it.  It's one of these cheap deals that everyone gets for school, but she pasted a photo of the suffragettes from the mid 1800s in an effort to Lilly-ize it.  I find that somewhat amusing, but hey, she's my best friend, so what can I do?

Not much, according to her.   

Evidently, Mia's mom wants her to record her feelings in a journal from now on.  Right.  Like Mia would willingly do that.  But no, instead of standing up to her mom, she goes out and buys a notebook for me too.  "Best friends suffer together," she said when she handed me this thing.  Sure they do.  

I don't know what I'm going to use this for.  It takes too much time to actually write everything out like this, when I can actually voice my opinions and have people listen to me.  But Mia's my best friend, and I guess I'll do her the favor and suffer with her for the time being.  

**Thursday, September 25** _G&T_

I hope Mia sees that I'm actually using this thing.  Scribble, scribble, scribble.  I don't know what to put in here.  I'm thinking of jotting down some ideas for my show.

- definitely need to do the shoes episode for Norman

- the truth behind study halls at high schools?

- what the American schooling system is all about

- there's something fishy about Ho's Deli… need to check that out

This class is seriously boring me out.  (Everyone in here agrees with me about that, which is somewhat rare.  People at this snotty school seem to hate all of my radical ideas these days.  Which I don't understand at all.)  But I still don't understand why this class even exists.  Hiring Mrs. Hill is a sheer waste of good taxpayers' money.  I mean, I know Mia uses the time to catch up on her Algebra homework, and Michael uses it to update his stupid webzine.  And me?  I just mope around, waiting for an amazing idea about my show to hit me in the head.  What a waste of time.  I could be off taking another class that would probably boost my GPA.  But of course not.  My parents would probably try and figure out why I was unhappy with being labeled, "gifted".  Oh, and "talented".  

And that's not all.  My brother is in this class with me.  My brother!  The one place where I'd expect to see less of him, I get to sit in the same classroom with him for one whole period!  Every.  Single.  Day.  It gets tiring after a while.

That only leaves one minimal highlight about this whole G&T class period.  The new Russian kid… Boris Pelkowski… or something like that.  His assigned seat is in the front corner of the room, and during attendance, I have this amazingly perfect view of him.  

Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't love him or anything, of course.  He's sort of… well… dorky.  And I mean, yeah, everyone in this class is dorky, but Boris has got to resemble the epitome of dorkhood.  But he's sort of cute, I think.  In a dorky way, of course.  And no, I'm not kidding.  I mean, aren't I supposed to record my "feelings" here?  Suffering with Mia, remember?  Exactly.  And especially since I can't tell anyone any of this without getting shot down by the entire population of AEHS, I can only scrawl these words in here.  I'm thinking of running the idea by Mia sometime.  She'd freak for sure.  That'd be funny, though.  Whee.

But anyways, back to Boris.  He's rumored to be this violin prodigy, and he spends his time in G&T practicing.  I've never really heard him, or anything, as I tend to tune him out when he begins to practice inside that closet of his.  People say I'm lucky I can do this.  You should hear what Mia says about him.  Even she hates him, and she really tries to only hold grudges against those prissy cheerleaders that we all seem to hate.

I don't understand what the fuss is all about.  Boris is just an interesting person to watch.  And watching _cute_ people can be really entertaining sometimes.   Right?

**Friday, September 26** _world civ_

I tell you, I'm a master at this whole pretending-to-be-paying-attention-to-the-teacher deal.  Mia is too.  We've either really perfected this skill, or the teacher is just completely blunt.  Could be either one, I guess.  Oh boy, what's this?

_Lilly!  I don't want to listen to this chapter review, so boring!  Save meeee!_

A note from Mia.  Heh.

Mia, I'm right there with you.  Hmm… what's more interesting… how about this?  "Lilly Moscovitz's List of Hottest Guys" coming right up!

I can't believe I just wrote that, but I toss the note over to Mia anyways.  She needs a laugh, I can tell.  My response works like a charm.  

_Bring it!  I'll add live-Mia-commentary!_

And that's how I ended up coming up with this list of rather attractive guys ranging from AEHS' own Josh Richter to world-class violinist, Joshua Bell.  [A/N: For those of you who don't remember, this list was in the actual first book, page 19.  Of course it's not in here, this is Lilly's diary, remember?]  I amuse myself sometimes.  Here comes another note from Mia…

_BORIS PELKOWSKI?!  Why'd you put him on here?!_

Mia is purely joking, I can tell.  She thinks I despise Boris as much as she does.  But even though that's definitely not true (the kid isn't totally loath-able, in my humble opinion), I still don't recall putting his name on the list.  Yet there it is, number two out of ten.  I've been surprising myself lately.   Boris is only a dorky piece of eye candy, right?  

Right.

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[Well, what do you think?  I know it dragged a bit, but I tend to do that a lot.  Things are going to quicken up, I promise.  There's not going to be too much after this, though.  If you liked this, let me know!  Oh boy, I better return to this increasing load of homework.]


	2. Thinking My Way Through

[ I'm glad that those of you who reviewed (Daylight Dancer, robtaymattlouned, fizzie-lizzie) enjoyed what I had so far.  That makes me excited.  I spent a long time trying to figure out how to chronologically push this story forward, and I'm still working out the kinks.  It's still going to be somewhat short.  Lilly's going to try and push her luck.  We'll see how that works…

Disclaimer: Meg Cabot owns all characters! ] 

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**Tuesday, September 30** _lunch_

I thought Mia was joking about the "shock" she expressed over Boris being on my "Hottest Guys" list, but considering the way she's been acting this last couple of days, I think I'm terribly wrong.  Take, for instance.  Right now.  We're sitting here in the last five minutes of this food-filled chaos, and Mia keeps on glancing at Boris and then shoots these pitiful looks at me.  Over and over again.  And how would I know, when I'm fiendishly writing these very words?

I have an eye on the top of my head.  Dun dun dunnnn…

That came out of the blue.  Don't worry, I'm just kidding.  Mom, if you're ever reading this, don't worry about my sanity.  I'm perfectly fine.  Remember who we're talking about here.  Lilly Moscovitz.  Master at doing-a-billion-things-at-once-while-making-it-look-like-I'm-only-really-doing-one-thing.  Yeah, that's me.  

But anyways.  Mia must really be freaking out.  I can see it written on her face, an utter look of disbelief that clearly states: "I can't believe my best friend is falling for guys!"  Oh, please.  I know I have my opinionated-rebel reputation to maintain, but a girl can do what girls like to do from time to time, no?

Everyone's getting up.  Must be time to go… I need to get out of here and avoid the mob in the halls.

**Later on Tuesday **_at home_

Yeah, Mia definitely thinks something is up.  Today during G&T she kept bringing up the word "violin" in our conversations.  I swear she was mentally making notes about my reactions to that word.  Sorry Mia, but I know what you're trying to get at:

Mia: The _violin_ is such an interesting instrument, isn't it?

Me: Sure.

Mia: I mean, don't you find guys who play instruments _hot_?  Especially guys who play the _violin?_

Me: Um. 

Mia: Classical and romantic tunes on the _violin_.  I mean, like, that's awesome!

Me: Are you referring to the clatter we hear in the background?

Mia: BORIS?!  OF COURSE NOT!

Mia's eyebrows slyly rise and her nostrils begin flaring.  Madly.  Now, I'm not the psychologists that my parents grew up to be, but I know some tricks of the trade myself.  And I definitely know my best friend long enough to realize that this nostril flaring deal isn't some coincidence.  She's lying.  And it's not working.

Me: Right.

Mia: UNLESS… is there something you're not telling me?

Me: MIA!  Why wouldn't I tell you anything?  Best friends?  Remember?!?!  And look what you made me do!

Mia: What?

Me: I was _this close_ from getting a delightful idea for my show, and your racket scared it away. Now calm down and let me finish thinking.

Mia stopped interrogating me, but she had this glint in her eye.  But she left it at that, because I think she knows me too well to go off and set me off in the middle of my inspirational jolts.  I guess I can get a bit riled up from time to time.

But this is what I want to know.  Have I been _that_ obvious?  Does everyone see that I have a fetish for the dorky Russian kid in our class?  

Wait a second.  Did I just write "fetish"?  Unbelievable.

Five days ago, I thought Boris was cute.  Four days ago, I put him on the list of hottest guys to walk the planet.  Today, I have a fetish with him.  

I think I need to talk to my mom.  

**Wednesday, October 1** _first bell_

Having a psychologist as your mom isn't exactly a bad thing.  Take the conversation I had with mine last night after the fetish incident in this flimsy notebook.

Me: Mom, I think… one of my friends is having an emotional breakdown.

Mom: Oh, honey, really?  Is there anything I can do to help?

Me: Well, I was thinking I could explain her situation to you, and you could help me figure out how I could… comfort her.

Mom: Lilly, dear, you are one loyal friend.  I wish I had a pal like you back when I was in school.

Aherm.

Me: Well, anyways.  This… um… friend of mine has a crush on this one guy that we both know, but this guy's reputation isn't any good, you see, he's really a dork, and yeah she doesn't want to tell anyone – 

Mom: Whoa, slow that down.

A friend of mine has a… crush?  My, what a mess.

Me: Sorry.  Well, a few days ago, she was really happy with just knowing herself that this guy was really cute.  Yeah, but now, the whole "he's cute" thing has evolved into what seems to be a… crush!  

Me: And, my friend just doesn't really "fall" for guys, she's sort of like a rebel… like me?  And since not many people like the guy, she's afraid that her reputation will go down the drain too.  

Reputation?  Am I really afraid of my reputation, too?!

Mom: Lilly, you must really be good friends with this girl.  Is it Mia?

Me: MIA?!  No… no… of course not!!

Mom: Ah, I see.  Well, here's what I think.  Self-happiness is, perhaps, the most important thing to achieve in today's society.  I think your friend shouldn't worry too much about the reputation problems and make the moves that she thinks will make _her_ happy.  Reputations may seem important for you girls, but really, if she's happy, and those who have won her trust are happy for her, everything should end up fine.

Me: Wow, Mom.  That makes a lot of sense, thanks for helping me.

Mom: Anytime.  Anything for my daughter.

Me: Me?  I mean… um… my friend.

Mom: Her too, her too.

Michael walked in right then, but I could tell he had listened to some of our mother-daughter bonding time.  Which easily explains the reason why he kept snickering silently.  Does he know too?  Oh please, no, it's my job to keep him in line.  I definitely don't need a role reversal right now.

But I have to say, my mom really made me think.  And really, I could care less about the opinions of the cheerleaders and football players at AEHS.  Lana's opinion means nothing but crap to me, and half the school is yearning to be like her.  And with me already being in G&T, I guess the whole "dork" factor isn't going to be too upsetting.  And I doubt my reputation is round and perfect, as I definitely know people have made slurs about my pug face and opinionated outbursts.  So what's there to lose?  Obviously, not much.  Maybe I should actually try and get to know the kid a little more.

No… scratch that.  I have a lot of things going on right now, show deadlines and adjusting to freshman life, so I definitely don't think I'm going to be pulling some moves on Boris anytime soon.  As much as it'd help me achieve self-happiness.  But I guess I need to do something.

I think it's time to tell Mia.

**Later on Wednesday** _at home_

Okay, so I didn't exactly _tell_ Mia my whole thought process on Boris.  I tried, I really did, but she seemed… how do I say it? … out of it today during G&T.  I think there's something going on with her too because she's just not being her own perky self.  She's not gleefully dissing Lana and Josh and she isn't even complaining about Algebra.  I don't understand what's going on.  She says her dad's visiting, but I don't see the big deal in that.  At least I don't think I do.  

And okay, I know I didn't _try_ and tell Mia what I thought about Boris _in person_, but we were in G&T, and Mrs. Hill didn't leave the room for too long today.  What was I supposed to do?

Nothing else, but pass notes.  Lilly-Mia style.  Mia still has the actual scraps of paper, but I remember how it basically went.  Well, the important tidbits, at least.  [A/N: This is actually Meg Cabot's stuff, first PD book, page 35]

God, he is so CUTE.

_Who's cute?_

BORIS!

_He isn't cute.  He's gross.  Look what he did to his sweater.  Why does he DO that?_

You're so narrow-minded.

_I am NOT narrow-minded.  But someone should tell him that in America we don't tuck in our sweaters._

Well, maybe in Russia they do.

_But this isn't Russia.  Also, someone should tell him that to learn a new song.  If I have to hear that requiem for dead King Whoever one more time…_

You're just jealous because Boris is a musical genius and you're flunking Algebra.

_Lilly, just because I am flunking Algebra does NOT mean I'm stupid_.

OK, OK.  What is wrong with you today?

_NOTHING!!!!!_

Yeah, something's definitely wrong with Mia today.  It took her fifteen minutes of notes to possibly realize that I just might favor Boris.  At least that's what I assume by her "I'm not stupid" remark.  Or maybe, she didn't even realize what I was talking about.  Yesterday, she tries to record my every reaction to every Boris-related item.  Today, it's like her entire memory's been erased.  And now that I think about it, I think I actually did a fairly good job of getting my point across.  I mean, _you_ read those notes.  Wouldn't you get the point that I liked Boris?

Something's definitely on Mia's mind.  

And something's on my mind too.  Do I, or do I not, actually try and _talk_ to my Russian-flavored eye candy?

More later.  Give me time to THINK, first.

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[Whee, fizzie-lizzie, that was a bit longer than before, don't you think?  And for the rest of you, am I doing an okay job on maintaining Lilly's voice?  Or is it getting a little whiny?  I can't tell… it sounds like my normal style of writing.  And I know some of you may be all "Lilly thinking about guys 24/7 – no way – this fanfic is so inaccurate", but I reread the first PD book, and I have to say, Lilly really does support Boris a lot.  And we hear so little from her that who KNOWS what she's really thinking?  

Reviews would be highly appreciated.  I'd like to know if you guys actually still have compliments for this, or if I've totally ruined it through this chapter. 

**And I promise things will get faster.  The teenage girl part of Lilly will wake up in the next chapter, and we'll get things rolling again.  But who knows what'll happen now?**

And a peek into my personal life: I just realized some odd coincidences.  My physics lab partner's name… is Boris!  And he's from Russia (don't worry, he's good at English and his accent is really cute heh)!  But he doesn't tuck his shirt in and he doesn't have a gross retainer, and he's actually really tall.  And he doesn't play the violin.  I do!  And I've been playing for a really long time.  Freaky?  Nah.]


	3. Rendezvous

[ Wow, I haven't updated in a superbly long time. We're almost done with school, though, and I wanted to write something… had this urge. So here I am. I know lots of you have probably forgotten about what this story's about, and I need to rethink the ideas through. It'll all be good. I lost my copy of _The Princess Diaries: Volume 1_ so I'm going to begin drifting away from the book a little more and more. That's okay, right?

Disclaimer: Meg Cabot owns all characters! ]

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**Thursday something-or-other** _at home_

I'm not this organized. I swear, I'm not. For some reason, I can't remember what today's date is. I'm tired of trying to get things exactly perfect. It's not like this notebook-of-feelings is going to turn into a world-class publication, anyways. So who needs dates? "Thursday something-or-other" sounds perfectly fine to me.

But moving on… G&T was slightly more eventful today; I actually helped Mia finish up her biology project, instead of simply moping around. It was one of those snazzy trifold presentation deals, and she still had to glue all her research onto the board. So who comes around to assist the damsel in distress but the one-and-only Lilly Moscovitz? Believe me when I say I am an expert on procrastination in a professional manner. It was actually entertaining, because I was reading her information on mealworms and it made me crack up for some odd reason. She was having fun today, which was good to see, after how upset and occupied she seemed yesterday. The whole class was staring at us as we worked, except Boris, who was inside the supply closet fiendishly practicing his chromatic scales.

_Chromatic scales? How do I know these things?_

Anyways, Michael kept shooting us these looks, and even came over to us to tell us to shut up (his exact words were more like, "calm down, you two, it's just mealworms", but whatever). We were having a blast, until I realized that we ran out of rubber cement. And as we still had half the board to finish, I jumped right up and barged into Mrs. Hill's oodles-of-school-supplies closet.  
Now, let me tell you. My mind was totally on mealworms and making sure that we finished Mia's project on time that I just charged through that door without a second thought.  
And I found Boris inside, his dark eyes glaring at whatever person had interrupted his private practice session. Hand clutched to violin. Shirt tucked in. Hair sticking up on the right side of his head.  
I definitely wasn't expecting that. And I froze.

Me: "Uh… hi?"  
Boris: [silence]  
Me: "Uh, I forgot you were in here. Sorry, I'll be quick. I just need to grab some rubber cement." _Smooth, Lilly, smooth. You forgot he was in here when the clatter produced by his violin is absolutely and earth-shatteringly loud.  
_Boris cocked his head to the side slightly. "Okay."  
Me: "Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry."

I rushed over to the back corner, and quickly tried to snag a bottle of rubber cement off the top shelf. Tried, being the key word in the situation. My ears turned crimson and I could feel the heat building up in my face. _I was too short to reach that bottle on the top, and this guy I had a semi-crush-fetish-obsession-who-knows-what was watching me!_ I was about to grab a crate to stand on, or something, when I realized that Boris was standing next to me, and before I knew it, he nonchalantly reached up and got the bottle for me. My face was literally a ripened tomato, and I blushed furiously as I took the rubber cement from him. It would have been fine there, but I made the mistake of looking up at him. I never realized that he was taller than me. I never realized that he had amazing potential for a cute smile. I never noticed his eyes to this extent.

Me: "Uh… thanks?"  
Boris: "You're welcome." But I could tell his mind was growling, _'Get out of here so I can practice!!'_, and I blushed even more.  
He cracked into a smile at that moment, seeing how embarrassed as I was, and walked back to his music stand, fingering the notes he had previously been practicing.  
Me: "Uh… see you around sometime?"  
Boris merely nodded.

Something happened to me right then. I don't know what, but the notes I was writing with Mia the day before popped into my head. I wasn't Lilly Moscovitz, ultimate feministic rebel, anymore. I was Lilly Moscovitz, floating on thin air and ready to take a risk. I definitely wasn't feeling completely normal.

Me: "Maybe we could, uh…"  
Boris winked. "I'm not allowed to go on dates."

I was absolutely flabbergasted. I don't even know if that's the right word to describe that, but I blushed so hard this time that my face was ready to turn purple. How had he known what I was about to say?

Me: "I never asked you on a date! What are you talking about?"

Right then and there, I hastily tried to clean the mess I was in. I tried to make up for everything by forcing myself to forget that I had ever considered Boris to be a "cute piece of Russian eye candy". With the bottle of rubber cement in my hand, I stormed out the door, but I swear I heard Boris laughing. "Jerk," I muttered underneath my breath after I slammed the door shut. "Egotistical, self-centered, jerk. Thought I was going to ask him out on a date."

But that was what I had intended, right?  
And I hate to admit, but the more I think about that little scenario in the closet, the more embarrassed I get. And it's not because I made a fool in front of Boris. It's because this incident makes him a bit more likeable than before. Just a little bit.

**Friday something-or-other **_the library after school_

I still need to talk to Mia about Boris, but I've never found time. The only person that seems to be around these days is Michael. And I'm definitely not talking to my older brother about this kid I might have a slight crush on. Never. Ever. Not over my dead body, for gosh sakes. The only person I think I could trust, anyways, would be Mia. Michael could probably care less. Mia would definitely listen and laugh at all the right spots. And give advice. I need all of that right now. I need time to just ramble. And trying to write out every single crazy thought that is rushing through my head would nearly be impossible.

By the way, I totally steered clear of Mrs. Hill's supply closet today, and made sure that I had some time to think things over. I got nothing done. I ended up staring at my shoes the entire period, and sprinted out the door when the bell rang. I'm pitiful.

Where's Mia? Something big is up with her right now, but I really can't tell what. She seems distressed, almost. And I can definitely tell it's something worse than my petty issues about Boris. Definitely.   
I can't wait for the weekend.

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[Shorter chapter than usual, folks. My apologies to all of you. Care to review?  
Hah, I just reread Chapter 2 of this fanfic and realized my author's note at the end. I find it so hilarious I have to paste it again:

And a peek into my personal life: I just realized some odd coincidences. My physics lab partner's name… is Boris! And he's from Russia (don't worry, he's good at English and his accent is really cute heh)! But he doesn't tuck his shirt in and he doesn't have a gross retainer, and he's actually really tall. And he doesn't play the violin. I do! And I've been playing for a really long time. Freaky? Nah.]****


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